Running head: WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Euthanasia
Mackenzie Nielson
Salt Lake Community College

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Euthanasia
What is Euthanasia?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines euthanasia as the act or practice of killing or

permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in
a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy. Currently, there are five states in the U.S. that
have legalized physician-assisted suicide: California (CA), Colorado (CO), Oregon (OR),
Vermont (VT), and Washington (WA). Montana (MT) allows for euthanasia via a court ruling.
In order for a patient to qualify in the states listed above, they must meet these
requirements: be 18 years of age or older, be a resident of the state, be capable of making and
communicating health care decisions for themselves and has made the request voluntarily, and be
diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months (ProCon.org).
Euthanasia outside of the U.S. (theguardian)
The Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Their conditions are as followed: the patient must be suffering and unbearable amount of pain,
their illness must be incurable, and the patient must be in full consciousness when the demand is
made.
In France, euthanasia is not legalized, but a law introduced in 2005 introduced the
concept of left to die; a doctor may decide to stop treatment and use pain-killers that could
shorten ones lifespan based off of side-affects.
In Germany and Switzerland, euthanasia is illegal and assisted suicide is illegal expect for
certain circumstances and that the lethal drug is taken by the individuals own actions; not being
led by another person.

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In Belgium, euthanasia and assisted suicide is legal when the patient is in unbearable pain
or if they are in a coma and had previously vouched for assisted suicide if such an event where to
occur.
The following graph is from procon.org depicting how different countries view
euthanasia and assisted suicide:
Euthanasia

PAS

Euthanasia PAS

Euthanasia PAS

Euthanasia PAS

Australia

France

Luxembourg

South
Africa

Belgium

Germany

Mexico

Spain

Canada

India

The
Netherlands

Sweden

China

Ireland

New
Zealand

Switzerland

Colombia

Israel

Norway

Turkey

Denmark

Italy

Philippines

United
Kingdom

Finland

Japan

Russia

Uruguay

Arguments Against Euthanasia (International Task Force)

1. Euthanasia would not only be for people who are "terminally ill"

2. Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment

3. Euthanasia will become non-voluntary

4. Legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide leads to suicide contagion.

5. Euthanasia is a rejection of the importance and value of human life

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Euthanasia would not only be for people who are terminally ill. When passing it into a law,
its important to define what terminally ill is because the definition can vary widely. This is why
the six states in the U.S. have limited to six months left with a terminal illness.
Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment . Legalized euthanasia
raises the potential for a profoundly dangerous situation in which doctors could find themselves
far better off financially if a seriously ill or disabled person "chooses" to die rather than receive
long-term care.
Euthanasia will become non-voluntary. Guilt tripping or the feeling of being a burden on
family members; financially and time consuming, could cause and individual to feel the need
that they have to choose death.
Legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide leads to suicide contagion. It shows people that
suicide is a satisfactory and acceptable way of ending life when things get tough.
Euthanasia is a rejection of the importance and value of human life. The argument that no
life is being saved, but only that of life being taken away.
Arguments for Euthanasia
The biggest argument for Euthanasia rights is that its ultimately the individuals decision
to end his or her own life. It could end the suffering of someone dealing with a terminal illness
that will only prolong further pain and suffering that could increase in intensity.
My Opinion

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The main reason I got really interested in this topic was because of the film, Me Before
You. In the ending, one of the main characters decides to go to a facility in Switzerland that
assists in suicide and he ends his life. The ending of this movie both frustrated me but I also
understood why he chose that path. It made me angry because he still could have had a perfectly
great life with the woman that he came to love and could make new life memories and
experiences as who he was now. I also understood that he missed his old life far too much to
want to keep going and was severely depressed because of his accident and had previously
attempted suicide as a means to an end.
I personally dont really have a problem with euthanasia. In fact, Ive thought about it
myself if certain situations came into play. I would rather die on my own terms than be forced to
prolong my suffering just for the sake of people not wanting me to die. If euthanasia wasnt
legal, I would just commit suicide. People commit suicide all the time and so whether or not
euthanasia was legal everywhere wouldnt make that much of a difference in my opinion. People
are still going to look down upon it no matter how it was done and judge the individual for what
they did. If you think about it, its just like when people put down dogs because theyre in too
much pain. Its hard, but sometimes putting down the animal you love is whats best for them.
This research into this subject didnt change my opinion on the subject and I still stand
with what Ive always thought about it. Its ultimately not my decision for whats best for the
individual. I would like to go into further research about the anti-euthanasia argument a bit more,
but in the end, the resulting arguments for both sides are going to boil down to a question of
morality.

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References
International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. (2016). Retrieved from
http://www.euthanasia.com/argumentsagainsteuthanasia.html
theguardian. Euthanasia and assisted suicide laws around the world. (2014). Retrieved
from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/17/euthanasia-assisted-suicide-laws-world
ProCon.org. State-by-state guide to physician-assisted suicide. (2016). Retrieved from
http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000132